[XPERIA X10 General] Bwyan Benton:
Ok, I started this thread because there are a million question throughout this forum about the stock camera on the X10. Some people just don't understand why they can't get good pictures from a 8mp camera. Some people say, why does this stupid 8mp camera take pictures with the quality of a 5mp camera (that makes me laugh a bit) lol.

So, here's the deal, for as long as I have been a member here I don't remember seeing a thread on this to help people get better pictures. Just many threads with questions scattered throughout.

Lets get started:

As a photographer I do spend ALOT of time taking pictures whether Im at home, work, parties, etc etc. I also shoot weddings, I have done and still do family portaits, etc etc.

So, most of the time I have my DSLR..but sometimes I dont, sometimes I just have my point-and-shoot, sometimes I rely on my X10. And thats where the fun starts.

When I use my phone to take pictures, I want to make sure I use the best possible settings to get the best possible picture. That includes, white balance, metering, and the lovely EV+/-.

I have spent a HUGE HUGE amount of time comparing many many different camera apps against each other. Guess which one won in the very end??? STOCK CAMERA! by a long shot!

What makes the stock so good compared to others? probably a more accurate meter reading, better white balance control and of course the EV+/- control.

How do I use my X10 camera properly then?

1. One thing I found for SURE on the X10 camera is the focusing isn't good. Use infinity focus for any shot UNLESS it's a macro (which isn't truly a macro, because smartphones aren't capable of shooting actual macro)

2. Change your white balance! if your inside your house with normal lighting from lamps, ceiling fans, etc, use incandenscent white balance! if your outside on a bright sunny day..use day white balance, if your outside and it's cloudy, use cloudy white balance. If your unsure, just use auto,,,it holds up really well.

3. Use EV+/- balance! best feature of our stock camera, which no other camera app can offer. Here's how its works:

you will see a meter when use press the EV control on your camera screen. It goes from -2___0___+2. By default its set to 0. If your shooting outside on a bright day try lowering it to about -0.3 to -1. You will see a dramatic difference with your shot. Much more detail becomes available. If you taking a picture of your friend, family member, etc etc outside on a bright day you might notice sometimes they look dark on your screen...thats because all the light from the background (usually the sun) is tricking your lens into thinking it has a crazy amount of light and it will lower the shutter speed. To counteract that, you will need to raise your EV to the + side. What this essentially does is overexposes the background, but brightens your subject up close so they aren't dark. Inside under poor lighting people complain about the camera and how it sucks. Well, guess what, we cant control the shutter speed or aperture on our camera, so we have to use whats available...again EV.

Under poor lighting, lower your EV to no less then -0.7 (otherwise the image might be to dark) What you will notice by doing this is yes the picture is slightly darker, but it also help reduce background noise within your photo.

Play around with the EV and see the difference for yourself. But never raise it in the + side of things unless your subject it to dark compared to the background otherwise you will end up with an overexposed photo. Lowering it a bit helps in almost all situations for everyday shooters.

How do I setup the X10 camera:

Capturing Mode: Normal

Resolution: 8mp or 6mp (wide) depends on what I want (remember, MP DO NOT effect quality)

Scenes: Normal

Focus Mode: Infinity or macro for close up shots

Photo light: always off for me

self timer: always off

metering: depends. but for everyday shooting use average as this is also known as matrix and is the most accurate metering mode.

White Balance: I explained above how to use it and when

Image stabilizer: ALWAYS OFF!! The feature is bad on the X10. Its litterly destroys the image. It causes way to much smearing should I say.

The rest of the features don't matter.

I hope this helps alot of your get better images from your stock cam. Because in the end of it, it most certainly is a superior app than anything on the market. Of course I have 360 ultimate, and vignette on my phone. 360 is nice for taking pictures with instant effects, and works really well. Same with vignette. So those 2 apps are by no means junk....just in sheer quality, not comparible to stock. Try staying away from automatic settings most of the time.

How to make your photo unique and very nice?

Use the rule of thirds. If you guys like this enough, I will continue to help you all with achieving much prettier pictures.

If you guys like this, I will take the time to do photos and show the differences when using EV and other features on the stock camera.

I would like this to become a sticky so people visiting these forums can see it at the top of the list and hopefully helps them before having to post more questions.

Any questions about this, feel free to ask.

Please don't troll this thread, I have dedicated myself to photography as a passion and take things very seriously. Of course you can disagree with me on this thread, but do it in a nice manner.